Samwise Gamgee is my favorite character in Middle-Earth. I have prepared this tribute because Sam is often laughed at and made fun of. I find this troubling, without Sam, the One Ring would never have been destroyed, "and no mistake!"
Samwise Gamgee, son of Hamfast Gamgee, spent most of his early life in the Shire. We lived in Bagshot Row of Hobbiton, and he worked under his father a gardener for Bilbo and Frodo Baggins of Bag-End. He quickly became fast friends with Frodo, and a loyal servant. So of course it was to no one's surprise when he announced that he would be going to Crickhollow with Frodo. Of course, Frodo, wasn't going to Crickhollow, he was going all the way to Rivendell, and perhaps further. This is where Sam's adventure begins.
Aside from avoiding the Black Riders, the Company doesn't encounter any serious resistance until the Mines of Moria. They are attacked by a band of northern Orcs, and the Company is forced to fight. While Frodo hides, and the two other hobbits are quite content to stay in a corner and throw rocks. Sam however, is right in the thick of things. He manages to slay a few Orcs, which is more than other hobbits could say.
It wasn't until much later that Sam had his shining moment, in the dark of Shelob's Lair. The giant demon had managed to knock Frodo out, and Sam presumed he was dead. With terrible wrath he stood and drew his sword. He charged at the beast, and hacked at it's legs and belly. The spider could take no more, and she crawled away into the darkness and died from her wounds. Keep in mind, this demon is the offspring of Ungoliant, the spider even Morgoth could not defeat.
And so Sam took up the One himself, and set out into Mordor alone. But he is able to spy that Frodo is still alive, and held by the enemy. And so, with his sword drawn, he climbs the tower of Cirith Ungol, and slays another Orc at the top and rescues Frodo. Many could not even pass through Mordor at all, Sam makes a detour. And so the two set on, until they reach the slopes of Mount Doom. Here, the ring is so heavy that Frodo can barely walk. Sam literally carries him all the way up the mountain, and fights of Gollum. He is with Frodo until the very end.
Upon returning to the Shire, he uses the gift from Galadriel to re-sow the earth, and he is heralded as a hero. He is elected mayor of the Shire seven times in a row until his death. A proud and strong hobbit was Master Samwise Gamgee.
